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Yang claims pole vault mark, targets sea games medal

SINGAPORE — Pole vaulter Rachel Yang set a national record in the event, clearing 3.83m in her second attempt to win at the 92nd Malaysia Open Athletics Championships in Kuala Lumpur. She finished ahead of second-placed Chuah Yu Tian of Malaysia (3.40m) and fellow Singaporean Justina Chan (3.20m).

SINGAPORE — Pole vaulter Rachel Yang set a national record in the event, clearing 3.83m in her second attempt to win at the 92nd Malaysia Open Athletics Championships in Kuala Lumpur. She finished ahead of second-placed Chuah Yu Tian of Malaysia (3.40m) and fellow Singaporean Justina Chan (3.20m).

Yang’s result bettered the previous national mark of 3.82m, which she had also set, at the Singapore Athletic Association Track and Field Series 5 in 2011. Yang’s national record is also better than the 3.80m that won Riezel Buenaventura of the Philippines the bronze medal at the 2013 SEA Games. The gold medal winning height from the 2013 Games is 4.21m — a Games record — set by Thailand’s Sukanya Chomchuendee.

Coached by her husband David Yeo, Yang is optimistic of her chances at this June’s SEA Games.

“If everything falls in place, a medal at the SEA Games is definitely possible,” Yang, 33, said in a phone interview from Kuala Lumpur yesterday. “My coach has a bigger plan for me. Surpassing 4.21m would be part of that bigger plan.” But she did not elaborate if she would be aiming to clear 4.21m at the SEA Games, which takes place from June 5 to 16.

Yang’s next assignment is this weekend’s Singapore Open Track and Field Championships, which was postponed for a week as a mark of respect for the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first Prime Minister who died on March 23. After that, she will head to the Taiwan Open and a training camp in Busan, South Korea.

Yang’s place at the SEA Games is subject to a final approval from the Singapore National Olympic Council, which is expected to finalise the list of Singapore athletes for the biennial meet by next month.

Up to 950 athletes who had been nominated by their respective national sports asociations had made the SNOC’s first round of selection.

Yang is hopeful of getting the opportunity to compete at the SEA Games and said the late Mr Lee would be her inspiration. She paid her last respects to Mr Lee at Ang Mo Kio Community Centre, one of the 18 community sites set up islandwide for the public to pay their respects.

Said Yang: “When I jumped, I told myself, ‘This is for you Mr Lee.’ I needed to focus because that was my way of sending him off. When I won, I could not hold back my tears.”

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